Hunter and Hunted
by Ruinedbloodshed
Summary: Lockdown captures the great bounty hunter Devcon, but who has really captured whom?
1. Chapter 1

Title: Hunter and Hunted

Rating: T for the early chapters but M later on.

Pairings: Lockdown X Devcon

Summery: Lockdown captures the great bounty hunter Devcon, but who has really captured whom?

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

In the distant reaches of space there was nothing but some asteroids drifting aimlessly in the inky blackness. In the face of the never ending abyss any sane creature would lose its mind. Which was why only the unsound of mind could spend any amount of time out in the void. What was even worse than the crushing, starless wasteland was the harsh fact that there was no life. Nothing could live this far off the maps not even the smallest patristic ameba could survive in absolute zero without the light of a single star. Out here was cold. Out here was death. Out here was absolute isolation.

And it was just what Lockdown liked.

This was the perfect place for the bounty hunter to do just about anything. He could lick his wounds and recover undisturbed if a hunt should go wrong, or lay low if a situation required it. Or he could just sit in his ship, The Death's Head, and listen to the endless streams of radio waves, listening for orns on end for news or new targets. This endless stretch to nothing was the idle setting for the overly paranoid bounty hunter. Nothing could come close without him knowing about it, and nothing could escape him once here.

Right now though, a smile tugged at his lips components as he sat motionless in the pitch black. The only thing on the radio waves now was frantic Autobot chatter. One ignorant fool after another screamed over the others to be heard. Lockdown had to admit even he was surprised at the ferocity and coordination of the Decepticon uprising. The only way the snarling, distrustful horde of Decepticon soldiers would work together is if someone had kicked their afts into shape. Rumor was; Megtron was still online after all these millennia, not that Lockdown cared enough to confirm the whispers. He'd seen the tyrant with his own optics and he could say with confidence that Megatron was the only bot in this universe that could force the level of cooperation needed for a mass attack out of the Cons. With Megatron back on the throne the Autobots where royally fraged. Which was just what they all deserved. Not that Lockdown was a bot that reveled in mass murder and war. He didn't like the roar of heavy cannons or the sound of explosions. He had no appetite for destruction. There was only one thing he had in common with the brutes that called themselves Decepticons; he loved the scent of blood just as much as they did. But he wanted it quiet when he sniffed the air and darkness to slip through unnoticed as he fallowed the scent of a fresh wound. Let Megatron and Ultra Magnus deal with armies, he just wanted one bot to set his sights on and hunt down.

Through the chatter still gnawing endlessly away at his audios the bounty hunter heard something else. It was the beeping of the private communication transmission. The button on the computer console blinked on and off in a steady rhythm. He didn't answer it right way, he wasn't sure he really wanted too just yet. Besides, there was no reason for him to rush. If whoever was on the other end of the line really wanted his services they'd wait.

Slowly his trophy room was bathed in dark red light as he powered up his optics. Slowly he looked over the mementos of past hunts. A real smile haunted his mouth as the familiar rush of ecstasy tingled through his circuits. He wanted to feel the thrill of the hunt again, and rip his reward out of a fresh new chassis.

The shinning sliver hook that made up his right hand descended on the lit button. The large viewing screen bust to life and a face took shape. It was dark grey with a deep purple helm that jutted up like a pair of horns. The red optics where a deep crimson color and seemed to look right through Lockdown, his ship and everything else to stare at some point unknown.

"Do I know you?" Lockdown growled, his voice dangerously low.

The royal purple bot on the screen didn't so much as twitch at the warning.

"We have a job for you."

Lockdown's engine growled menacingly as his place face plates twisted into an ugly frown.

"Not big on formalities are ya?" Lockdown snarled. "Can't a bot get a simple "hi there."

"Formalities are meaningless." The purple bot deadpanned unfazed. "Do you want the job or not. There are plenty of other bounty hunters in the universe."

"Whoever told you I'd take a job from a complete stranger sold you a load of slag." Lockdown growled, hook hovering over the button to cut the line.

"Under normal circumstances your insolence would not be tolerated. However, General Strika has made in clear your services are required."

"Strika?" Lockdown growled suspiciously. "General of Destruction Strika?"

"Is there another Strika I should be made aware of?" The Decepticon growled.

Both mechs stared each other down, the bounty hunter's optics taking in details of the strange mech. Logging them away for future use, like weak points around the mech's neck to dig his hook into.

"Be honored she finds you worthy enough for me to contact."

"Aww," Lockdown sneered with a sarcastic roll of his optics, a dirty habit he'd picked up from that mud ball Earth. "How sweet of her to remember me."

The mech on the other end of the transmission showed no signs of life, not even a flux in his optical sensor brightness. The red lenses merely stared at him, or more accurately, through him.

"Will you take the job or won't you?"

"I have to hear details before I make up my mind." Lockdown said. "Especially when it's coming from somebot I don't trust."

"Some of our forces have encountered an irritant that warrants our attention. However, reinforcements are few and previously engaged. We want you to deal with this problem quickly. Should you succeed your payment will be substantial. Twice your normal rate. Fifty percent of which will be paid up front."

While the pay sounded great, Lockdown was no fool. Decepticons paid top credit and mods because the jobs they wanted done where dirty and dangerous. And the higher up on the Decpticon food chain the contract came from the more lethal the job. Often many of them meant certain death.

"And if I decided to do this… favor for you, what would be the problem that needs to be taken care of?"

"There's and Autobot picking off strategically placed troops in this sector,"

A star map with the specified quadrant blipped in the bottom corner of the screen as the mech continued in the same monotone.

"Intelligence has little insight, due to the lack of surviving witnesses. The only useful intel that was salvaged was the designation: Devcon. Other than that we…"

"Stop right there." Lockdown snapped, pointing his hook at the screen. "Devcon's a bounty hunter, and a damn good one. He won't go down easy, and even if he does your looking at a lota' collateral damage. He ain't worth it. I suggest you cut your losses and move on."

"We'll triple your fee."

Lockdown's optics narrowed.

"That's an insult. You're asking me to bring down a bot that can take out a squad of your Decepticons single handedly. I wouldn't even roll off the berth for triple. Twenty million or you can go personally to deal with him."

That finally got a reaction. The purple mech's optics narrowed and he glowed threateningly.

"You overestimate my patients with you bounty hunter."

"And you underestimate the bot you're looking for. Devcon's one of the best. He's killed everything he went after and everyone that went after him. He's big game and it's gonna cost you big."

"Will you take the job or won't you? I don't have all cycle."

"You agree to twenty million?"

"We agree to your terms." The bot said darkly, no doubt wanting to rip Lockdown limb from limb.

"Knew you would." Lockdown smiled coyly. "Now, do you want him alive? Or do you want proof of death?"

"I don't care if you tie him up and make him your personal pleasures drone." Came the snarling response. "Just see to it that he no longer disturbs us or our operations or I'll personally take your head for a trophy."

Then the transmission cut out, leaving Lockdown once again alone in the dark. After a moment of silence a chuckle escaped him. Big danger for a big pay day. This was definitely his kind of job. Lockdown left the lights off as he began his research.

Hunting bounty hunters was tricky business for quite a few reasons. One of which was it was more or less an unwritten rule that one didn't hunt their peers. Despite the universes' misconception, most bounty hunters got along. Off the clock anyways. Hunters where often assets to each other. Each had their own web of connections and informants that where useful. More often than not hunters where pleased to do favors and pull strings to have somebot in their debt. Lockdown knew how advantageous it was having that kind of connection in your pocket. So killing another bounty hunter was often far more trouble than the job was worth and tended to come back around and bite one in the aft.

But there was no greater thrill then hunting down one of the most dangerous beings in the universe. Bounty Hunters where fast, cunning and down-right ruthless. Not to mention they had some of the best personal modifications. Devcon was bound to have some interesting trophies for the taking.

His left hand typed away at the controls as his hook flipped the power on. The lights flickered on inside his trophy room as Lockdown filtered through the data streaming across the computer. He found exactly want he needed with only minor difficultly and rose. The lights of The Death's Head flickered on and then off as Lockdown moved through his ship to the cock pit. If he was going to be successful he needed as much prep time as possible and make calls to his own informants. He took a seat at the controls and stared out at the vest emptiness beyond the viewing screen. An idea was beginning to form on the fringes of his processor and after a moment of thinking, and some rather impressive hacking skills, he found the encrypted line he needed and patched himself through.

It only took a click or two for a rather ugly looking Decepticon to answer.

"Who the pit are you?" The menacingly ignorant mech slurred.

"You got an officer over there?" Lockdown snapped.

The ugly bot was shoved out of the way and a much more agreeable looking officer took its place. The new mech's handsome grey face as pulled back into an unsightly snarl.

"You have an astrosecond to explain yourself of I'm going tro rip your spark out of your…"

"Relax," The black tattoos stretched eerily as the pale face grinned. "I'm your Primus granted miracle."

Lockdown had never been much of an actor, but he could be just convening enough to get what he needed done. Dealing with Decepticons was rather easy once you had a little practice. You showed no weakness, you exploited whatever weakness you could find and if you could get them angry enough that they overrode rational thinking… you had an army at your disposal. You just had to push the right buttons at the right time.

"General Strika hired me. Apparently, you have yourself a bounty hunter problem."

"I don't NEED any help!" The officer growled. "I have the situation under control!"

This was going to be too easy Lockdown grinned to himself. This bot didn't even try to hide his oh so easily exploited pride.

"Yeah, sure you do." Lockdown snorted condescendingly.

"You listen to me you uncultured, ill-bread slag…" the officer snarled. "I've worked my aft off to get where I am and no primus damn bounty hunter is going to take my rightfully earned glory! Over my cold, offlined chassis!"

_That can be arranged_. Lockdown thought as his optics narrowed. While he would love to make an unprofessional, personal kill, he still had a use for this aft.

"Look, I ain't interested in glory friend. Credits and mods are the only things I'm after, and Stirka already took care of that for ya. I'm just here to take out the trash. As far as I'm concerned, after I get paid, you're the one that took care of this mess."

Lockdown eased back in his chair as a cold smile split his face.

"So let me put it this way, I'm coming down there. If we can play nice together things are going to go a lot smoother. But if we can't come to an understanding you're going to be up to your audios in bodies."

The officer regarded him suspiciously before he was forced to give in.

"What kind of… understanding… do you have in mind?"

Lockdown's optics glittered dangerously.

"Oh, I already have an idea that will work quite nicely."


	2. Chapter 2

The small hideout was little more than four walls and a door pressed in so close together that there was barely enough room for its occupant to lie down. Despite its shortcomings, the little cabin had one thing no other place on the untamed planet had. A perfect location. It was the only sign of life so far out in the wilderness, nestled at the foot of a small mountain which was covered by a thick forest of trees that hid the little dwelling. To one side there was a large river that made enough noise to mask what little sound came from occupant of the cabin and to the other side lay an unclimbable ravine. Stretched out before the mountain was an ancient river delta, flat and dry for as far as the optic could see. There wasn't even a single rock to use as cover. The cabin was incredibly well protected. Nothing, threat or not, could approach without being spotted. Not that any non threat could make it out this far into the wild blue yonder. The closest, and only, Cybertronian settlement was megamiles away. Close enough to be a solar cycle's drive there but far enough away to keep the Autobot's that lived there out of danger.

Devcon meticulously cleaned his sniper rifle, religiously keeping one optic on the world outside, the other on the task at hand. He clicked the last piece of the firearm back into place and ran the rag over the whole weapon one last time. He didn't like shooting the thing and he only reached for it as a last resort, but that didn't mean he was going to leave himself venerable because he didn't take care of his equipment. When the gun met his high expectations he carefully laid it aside. Next he pulled out a pair of Sais that glittered spectacularly in his grip and begin the cleaning ritual all over again.

Devcon had had these Sais for a long, long time. Since the day his master felt he was worthy enough to wield such a weapon they had never left his side. That seemed like a lifetime ago now. Had Yoketron known then what Devcon would do with these sacred weapons he would have never handed them over. As a Cyber Ninja, Devcon had been trained to injure and incapacitate, never to kill. But ever since the Great War the Sais had taken too many lives to count. The red hands paused momentarily as Devcon wondered what Master Yoketron would think of him now. Devcon quickly pushed those thoughts aside. He did what he thought was right, back then as well as now. Yoketron would respect that, even if he didn't agree with him. The Sais where cleaned quickly and safety stored away. With his task done, Devcon interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on their backs. He would have to wait for the Con's to make a move before he could do anything.

Now the boredom started. The waiting was the worst part of any hunt. To have to just sit on your hands and wait for something to happen was maddening. It left one with far too much time to think and reflex. Something Devcon didn't like to do. There was a lot of stuff that didn't need to be dredged up. The Autobot bounty hunter watched the shadows as they slowly moved across the floor in an effort to keep his mind off the past. It was times like this that made him wish he had someone to talk too. He found himself wishing someone was with him to keep him sane on these long, lonely hunts. It was for the best that he was alone though. Hunting Decepticons was dangerous work on a good cycle and deadly on a bad one. Devcon couldn't afford to lose anyone again. He just couldn't take it.

The first of the planets two suns began to slide beyond the horizon making the shadows on the floor deform in odd ways. Devcon watched them intently as they began to die as the light faded. Something on the edge of his scanners put him ill at ease. Nothing showed up on his scans, but he could feel in the air that something was off as the second sun slipped towards the horizon. Things where too quiet, and there hadn't been a quiet cycle on this planet since the Decpticons had arrived.

Night on this planet was brief. Before the Con's had landed it had even been peaceful. Devcon had heard stories from some of the settlers that the native animals made the most beautiful music on quiet nights. He had been here for some twenty odd cycles and he had heard nothing but laser fire and the crash of metal. He would make sure he rectified that. He only needed a few more good shots before the animals could have their night back. As the second sun began to slip away the stars flared to life one at a time. The planet had no moon making the stars the only source of light once the suns went down. Luckily there where countless stars in this sector of the universe. Each and everyone sparkled brightly unlike the stars that where visible from Cybertron.

Devcon's optics darkened as he eased himself up into a crouch. His hand retrieved the rifle lying on the floor as the mech slid to the side of the door. Something definitely wasn't right tonight. The animals had never sung, but they still made noise. An alien, complete silence had settled over the area. It was so quiet Devcon could hear the energon swishing through his fuel lines. Quietly the bounty hunter brought the gun online, straining his audios for any sound in the unnatural stillness. Nothing moved for what seemed like an eternity.

Then, on the very fringes of his scanners and audios, a dull humming began. Devcon waited as the humming grew louder and louder as the seconds past. Then the humming turned into the distinctive whine of engines. The bounty hunter sighed as his vents took a deep intake of air to calm him. As the whining of the engines grew closer Devcon could distinguish five individual pitches. He quickly ducked his head out the doorway to see a team of five Decepticons screaming across the ancient delta. With any luck they would continue past him so he could pick up their tail and put a few permanently offline. A laser bolt sizzled past the trees close to the cabin, far too close to be randomly fired.

"Great." Devcon snarled.

Before he could even get a shot off another bolt took off one the corner above his head. The hunter dropped to his knee, raised the rifle and fired. The Decepticon at the front of the column went down, kicking up ages old dirt from the ancient delta. It would have been nice if the reaming forces scattered. He had maybe nine shots left. That was if he was lucky. The rest of the force transformed and pulled out what seemed to be an entire armory and opened fire. Devcon never seemed to get lucky.

Devcon sprawled flat on the floor bringing his rifle to bear on the most heavily equipped Con. Unlike the rapidly firing Con's, he only had a handful of shots. He had to make each one count and quickly. A chunk of wall gave way over his head, tumbling to the floor in pieces. Devcon rolled away from debris and lined up his shot again. The big green one jerked back as the hunter's blot found its first mark. Devcon coldly adjusted his sights and pulled the trigger again.

The remaining three Decepticons closed ranks as they advanced on the cabin. Devcon rolled to his feet and dove out the door into the trees at the same time as a grenade was lobbed into his cabin. Devcon hit the deck and covered his head as the world behind him exploded. Rubble rained down on his back as the hunter scrambled to his feet and behind the cover of the trees. Amongst a hail of lazar fire Devcon pressed his back into the tree and checked his rifle. Seven shots left.

"Where are you Autobot?!" Someone yelled over the din. "Get out here so I can rip out your optics!"

Devcon's answer was to throw the rifle over his shoulder and fired in the direction of the voice. He was satisfied to hear a yelp of pain. The lazar fire let up minimally which Devcon used to his full advantage to move locations. Blasts peppered his heels as the hunter spirited from tree to tree, ducking and dodging the flying death. Screeching to a sudden halt behind a particularly large tree Devcon waited a split second as the blasts continued past him, spun and fired.

It wasn't one of his best shots. Amid the circus of destruction and the limited time he had to get one of the con's in his sights Devcon was thankful he hit anything at all. With a flash of blue light Devcon's bolt struck the blaster of his closest attacker. The weapon flew wildly from its owner's hands and landed with a dull thud, a smoking hole through the body of it.

"What are you waiting for?!" Screamed a new voice. "It's only one bot! Get in there and GET HIM!"

"That's right, fallow me." Devcon grinned to himself.

Using his current cover like a spring board he thrust himself away from the edge of the tree line back into the dark depths of the forest. A few stray shots fallowed him as he vaguely heard a "we got em' on the run!" He pushed deeper into unknown territory while his optics swept the terrain and his processor worked a light-year a second. His cyber ninja training for stealth and surprise kicked into over drive as a plan formed. He jumped up onto a low hanging branch and leapt soundlessly from branch to branch until he found a covert spot among the trees. Pressing close to the massive trunk Devcon squeezed himself behind a cluster of leaves, brought his rifle to bare and waited.

It wasn't long before the heavy thundering rattled the trees as the bots drew closer. Devcon's vents snapped shut and he dampened his energy signal to unreadable levels.

"Tracks stop here." Came a gravelly voice.

"He can't have disappeared!" A second voice, screechy voice answered. "Autobots don't just grow wings and fly away!"

"Shut up you idiots! He's hiding here somewhere, and I don't care if we have to tear this planet apart, we are going to find him and we are going to KILL him!"

Devcon's sights were squarely fixed on the mech that appeared to be the leader. He wanted them a little closer before he made his move. The Con's ripped and tore their way closer making an unholy racket as they reached Devcon's tree. The hunter slowly began to put pressure on the trigger as the leader walked in front of his remaining soldiers.

"Burn it down!" The grey commander snarled.

Devcon's finger quickly backed off the trigger.

"With pleasure!"

The screechy voiced mech trotted forward with an evil grin plastered across his face. His hands retracted and a couple of devices Devcon couldn't see clearly took their place. The mystery didn't last long as a spray of fire began engulfing the landscape in front of the mech.

"Burn babt BURN!"

The blindingly orange flames leapt and danced quickly from plant to plant making their way through the foliage in all directions. Devcon didn't want to waste any of his precious last few shots or his element of surprise, but if the forest kept burning he'd lose any hope to hide within it. He readjusted his scope to the larger threat and sealed the mechs fate. The headless body had barely hit the floor before the last two turned their arsenal lose on him. Decon then did what very few mech where capable of. He leapt from his position and with unmatched grace preformed master level acrobatics.

Cybertrionians as a race weren't the most graceful being around, mechs in particular. Their size and weight often led others to believe them clumsy. Devcon was the exact opposite. He twisted and turned, spun and moved his body so his legs where above him while his shoulders and head faced the ground, effectively minimizing himself as a target yet still allowing him to take aim at his quarry. Even as he sailed through the air Devcon knew the moment he landed things would turn into a hand to hand combat situation. While he was a circuit-su master of the highest order, he still needed to neutralize the bigger physical threat. The commander was far closer to his own size and weight then the other. The first shot tore through the large bot's right shoulder and arm, the next sliced through the heavy chest armor. The last shot bullseye'd its mark between the optics.

One shot remained.

Devcon landed and raised the rifle, hoping for a lucky shot on the last mech. The commander was apparently ready for that attack. A flashing purple sword whipped out and knocked the rifle away. The shot went wild as the gun flew free. He never got lucky.

"Why won't you DIE!?"

Devcon rolled and brought his sais up in time to block the sword from striking again. The Decepeticon snarled and growled as he pushed down on the blade with all his weight. Devcon grimaced as he struggled to push back. He HATED swords. One, because they were so horribly over used by the unworthy, and two because he and his sais where at a disadvantage. Not to mention he knew some bots that could really put the hurt on with those things. He had the scars to prove it.

The bounty hunter twisted his body, sending the sword and his wielder stumbling to the side. Devcon put on hand on the ground to brace himself, torqued his body and brought his leg squarely up into the mech's side. The mech hit the floor and rolled one way while Devcon went the other. In a flash both where up. Blade and sais met briefly time and time again. The combatants battled with flames on one side and darkness to the other. Devcon twisted and dodged, using his weapons and body to fight for the advantage. But Decepticons where tough, battle hardened and ferocious. Combat was as much a part of them as their main energon pump.

But Decepticons valued brute strength above all else. Devcon was fast. He was light and maneuverable. He could get in behind an enemy, find a hole in their defenses, place the blade of the sai against a venerable area like the neck and cut with blinding speed. The mech lost his grip on his weapon as his hands flew to his throat. He fell to the ground, gurgling, unable to make any other noise. Bright purple energon pooled under the mech's neck and head and began to spread. Devcon didn't turn to watch his enemy die. He could have brought the mech's suffering to a quick end, but the warmongering Decepticon was undeserving. Devcon listened, unmoved, as the gurgles slowly grew weaker and weaker. And then there was nothing but the crackling of the fire.

Devcon straightened as he listened to the hissing of the flames and the unnatural silence that engulfed everything. There was still something wrong with the air. He should retrieve his rifle and find somewhere to regroup before…

"GHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

White hot pain exploded inside his head. Every sensor node in his body burst in a flash. Then everything went dark.

He never got lucky.

Lockdown watched passively as the mech went down with a crash. The circuit disrupter crackled once before transforming back into his hand. He surveyed the damage with a callous optic. Devcon's hideout was little more than rubble, his Decepticon "hosts" had not survived the assault, now all that was left to do was claim his bounty.

How eager the Decepticon commander had been to set off after Devcon unaware of what awaited them. Devcon hadn't failed in playing his part as well. He performed flawlessly.

"Just as planned." Lockdown grinned to himself.

Now that all the loose ends where no longer a problem, Lockdown indulged his curiosity. He'd heard lots of rumors about this famous bounty hunter, now he wanted a face to go with the name. Not that'd he'd really remember it. With his foot he rolled the mech onto his back for a good look at the mech that had caused such a problem. He was surprised at what he found. He had been expecting somebot more like himself, something along the lines of a large mech with hard features. This was not the case with the unconscious bounty hunter at his feet. Intrigued more than ever now, Lockdown knelt down for a better look. In the glow of the fire Lockdown inspected the mech. Everything about Devcon was sleek. There was no unnecessary armor to slow him down or hinder his fluid movements. He was all grace. He was brilliant white and blue with red hands and feet. Not the most inconspicuous paint, not that Lockdown had any say when it came to being inconspicuous. Lockdown took the mech's chin in his hand to study the pale face plates. As far as Cybertronion mechs went Devcon was a rather good looking specimen. His angular face and strong chin definitely wouldn't get him thrown out of many berths.

"Well, you're certainly not what I expected." Lockdown mused aloud.

With that said the black and green mech lifted the other by the arm and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of spare parts.


	3. Chapter 3

Devcon was aware of the spinning in his processor before he could even feel the rest of his body. From the neck down he was numb and it wasn't much better from the neck up. A lot of his memory chips need to be de-fragged as did most of his sensory network. Whoever had got the drop on him had really done a number on his systems. They no doubt wanted to make sure he wasn't going to be moving quickly any time soon. Mission accomplished with over kill on that count. Carefully he tried to move his hands and found them tightly bound. Not that he wasn't expecting it, but he wasn't expecting his hands to be so numb. His neural network was so fragged he could barely feel what was binding him. Next he tried to move his legs with no luck. It looked like he was pretty much helpless.

"Great." Devcon mumbled, his voice weak.

After a few reboots his optics finally came back online. It took a long moment for the static to clear but went it finally subsided Devcon wished it hadn't.

Like he was waking up in a creepy old horror vid, Devcon looked around slowly, his anxiety rising as he observed his prison. Shelves upon shelves ringed the room he was a captive in and each and every one of them was packed full of body parts. His optics wandered over the grizzly displays that went on and on and on. It was like crash site; horrible and sickening but you just couldn't stop looking. Arms and legs of every shape, size and color where mounted on the top shelves and below them where a hodgepodge of self modifications. Some were identifiable and some were so bizarre Devcon couldn't even begin to fathom what they would do. Incapacitated and unable to even try to free himself Devcon's optics kept roaming farther and farther along the heaps of spare parts. It didn't look like any more than two parts where the same color leading Devcon to conclude that the number of Cybertronions these had come from was staggering. His spark constricted in revulsion. What kind of sick individual hunted his own brethren simply for their mods? Then, like a cago ship ramming into his chest, he knew who.

Devcon had heard rumors. Whispers of a Decepticon bounty hunter that cut trophies out of his victims. He had always dismissed the mumblings as gossip. He believed it story that had been blown way out of proportion and told by creators to misbehaving sparklings. Now he lay at the heart of that horror story, eating his own words as he waited for his fate in the gruesome mausoleum.

"Just what I needed." He grumbled.

It always put a damper on his cycle when he was captured and at the mercy of a sociopathic body snatcher. The swish of an unseen automatic door brought his attention back to his present situation. He quickly offlined his optics and lay still as death.

"You awake yet sleepyhead?" came a deep, patronizing voice.

Devcon didn't answer. He kept himself under control as he felt a presents draw closer. Something scraped across the floor and then Devcon he could feel the bot leaning over him. He wanted to lash out. He wanted to get his hands on his mech's face and crush it. He wanted to do anything. But all he did was clench his hands tight.

"Come on now. I invented the pretending to be recharging gag."

The energon in Devcon fuel lines began to boil. His iron like control was all that held him still. He didn't want to give this psychopath the satisfaction of calling him out on a bluff. A snort of amusement broke the silence as something cold grabbed Devcon's arm. The blue and red mech jerked away so hard he nearly tore his arm out of its joint but the unexpectedly violent movement made the touch disappear. Enraged, Devcon's optics flared to life as he barred his dental plates with an animal like snarl.

"Get your FILTHY servos OFF me!"

"So you are awake."

The pale face grinned as the other hunter leaned into the light. For the first time Devcon could get a good look at him. Despite his dark appearance his face plates where stark white. The only thing that kept the other hunter from looking comical where the dark tattoos that curved down through the red optics to his cheeks and two more jutting up from his chin. He seemed to have originally been green and black, but three of his limbs didn't match that color scheme. All three where were mismatched and different sizes. Clearly they didn't originally belong to the bounty hunter. Devcon felt his armor plating crawl as he tried to ignore the slap in the face conclusion as to what the mech was doing with the mods he was taking.

"So we finally meet face to face." The hunter said, cocking his head off to the side. "I gotta say, your smaller then I'd thought you'd be."

Devcon held his glossa as his glared at his captor in silence. The dark mech sitting at his shoulder leaned in farther and put a finger on the blue chest, seemingly to just to taunt his captive. Devcon's optics found the other mech's and glared into them.

"Touch me again," he growled through clenched dental plates. "And you'll lose a hand."

The pale face close to his actually smiled.

"Been there, done that."

Devcon watched carefully as his captor leaned back and produced his right hand. Only it wasn't a hand. At the end of the yellow arm where a hand should have been there was a silver hook. Devcon growled as the hook was rested on his chest. The very contact burned him like acid.

"Get your… hook… off me or you'll lose that too."

"You should be a little more grateful. If it weren't for me you'd be dead and rusting right now."

"I have a policy against being grateful to bots I don't know that take me prisoner."

The red optics widened slightly with surprise.

"You don't know who I am? Have you been living on an organic backwater or something?"

"I don't make it a point to know individual Decepticons. Just how to kill them."

"Huh. I would have thought my reputation preceded me."

"Reputation? More like you're sick disease." Devcon spat as he jerked his head in the direction of the stolen self modifications. "I've heard about that."

"Sick disease?" Lockdown scoffed. "That's pretty preachy coming from the mech that's said to be one of the best bounty hunters and yet no one's ever seen him get paid for his work. It's almost like you like killing."

Devcon's face went blank and he turned his face away. Instead, he intently looked at a gold and black helmet that seemed vaguely familiar.

"I strike a nerve receptor with that one? A little too close to home?"

"If you're going to kill me get on with it already. I'm tired of dealing with a con."

"Did you take a good look at me? There ain't a Con brand on me. I'm freelance. If the Elite Guard paid better you'd be calling me an Autobot."

"It's not the brand, it's your actions." Devcon snarled.

"That makes you a Decepticon yourself then. You got a body count up there with the best of em'."

"You'll regret saying that Decepticon."

"You can't see it, but I'm terrified right now."

The pale faced hunter grinned before setting both his elbows on Devcon's chest, pretending not to notice the venomous look on the other hunter's face.

"We might as well get used to each other seeing as you're going to be here a while. So you better start using my name cuz this "Decepticon" slag is starting to get on my nerves. You can call me Lockdown, Devcon."

"Stop saying my name like we're friends." Devcon snarled.

"You know, after I gift wrapped those Decepticons for you ya' should show me a little gratitude."

Devcon whipped back around to the smirking face of Lockdown who grinned knowingly.

"Yeah it was me. I know Con's are dumb but you really think their dumb enough to go off into the unknown on a suicide charge? I tracked ya down and gave them your exact coordinates and might have mentioned you where wounded or something like that. Just a little blood in the water and they fell for it. You would not believe have badly they wanted you dead."

"You sent five heavily armed Deceptions after me and you expect me to be grateful?"

"I sent five heavily armed Decepticons after you with misinformation about your condition and weapons and sent set them up on a killing field for ya. Besides I was there the whole time and would have stepped in but all I to do was just swoop in at the end when you weren't looking."

"And I'm supposed to be grateful for that? I nearly got my head blown off and you want me to be friendly and thank you? I'd sooner bite through my own glossa and bleed to death."

"I like you." Lockdown grinned as he stood and patted Devcon on the shoulder. "I think we'll get along great. Devy."

As Lockdown began to leave Devcon twisted as far as the reinforced steal cables would let him go.

"I'll rip your spark out and make you watch as I crush it!"

Lockdown paused in the open doorway for a moment, seemingly thinking. When he turned around an amused smiled played across his lips.

"You sure have a mouth like a Decepticon for someone that hates them so much Devy."

And then Devcon was left alone once again. All he could do was hope that the sheer force of his hatred could cut him loose.

Devcon had been situations like this before. Admittedly in the past his hadn't been captured by a professional, but he was still confident he could get out of this. There were several strategizes he could try the next time _Lockdown_ decided to visit him.

There was the ever reliable hit him fast and hard the second his restraints where loosened. But seeing as how Lockdown probably wouldn't release him, even to cut a mod out of him, that idea was out. Something with a little more drama was faking an injury or sickness. That one might be doable, though it hinged on Lockdown's compassion. It was a Hail Mary play at best. He could always get free and lay in wait for a surprise attack, but seeing as how he had tied for joors and joors on end to undo his restrains and failed, option three was out. He'd have to come up with something and soon if he wanted to get out of here with all his pieces.

The automatic door swished open again, and this time, Devcon was ready with a snappy insult.

"Oh look, it's my "friend" come to visit again." He said sarcastically.

"You're warming up ta me." Lockdown chuckled.

Once again the other bounty hunter pulled up a seat by Devcon's shoulder. The two traded stares for a long moment until Devcon couldn't take the silence.

"If you're going to stare at me like you're going to cut me open you could at least have the decency to get it over with."

To that Lockdown only shrugged.

"Not sure what I want out of you yet. You didn't show off those mods of yours when you where fighting."

"So sorry to inconvenience you. If you want a swift kick in the aft I'd be more than happy to oblige though."

Devcon's sneer was matched by a dark smile.

"That's some attitude you've got on you. I don't suppose you'd want to make things easy and just tell me what your best modification is?"

"I'd have to say it's my winning personality." Devcon smiled coldly, his optics shooting daggers. "Couldn't you guess?"

"I'd definitely want a crack at that… personality of yours."

"My schedule wide open you pale faced freak."

Lockdown put his hand to his chin as he leaned back and looked Devcon up and down. His optics seemed to linger longer than necessary as they roamed the blue and white chassis.

"Watch your mouth if you want to keep it."

"Or what? You'll tie me up and rip off a limb? Well it's a little late for that so now what? Are you going to torment me with your ugly face some more?"

"Pity I can't take out that attitude of yours. But if you keep opening your mouth I'm going to have to teach you to keep it closed."

"If I scared that easy I wouldn't be a bounty hunter would I?"

Lockdown's tattooed face leaned in close as his optics narrowed.

"You should be scared. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"I believe I mention the ripping out of body parts. You're pretty much a one trick pony. All you Decepticons are."

The shinnying silver hook whipped out and dug into the blue wrist. Devcon hissed and offlined his optics as the hook dug painfully into his joint. He arched his back to try to get away but Lockdown forced him back down. When Devcon's optics rebooted his innards clenched and his breathing stopped. Lockdown's face was thrust in so close to his own their nose plates where nearly touching. The red optics bored into his blue ones.

"Don't," Lockdown growled darkly. "Call me that. Again."

"Or what?" Devcon snarled right back.

"Things are going to be a lot easier for the both of us if you just shut that mouth of yours and do as I say. Now, don't you want this to be easy?"

Devcon liked to pride himself on being smart and controlled, but staring into the ruby optics and having been ordered to do as he was told enraged him. In broke his control and the little voice in the back of his head that told him to do whatever he needed to do to survive was silenced. To him, it was a declaration of war.

"De-cepti-con." He snarled.

The stare down lasted a quiet moment as the very air between the two swirled with animosity.

"You'll regret that.

"Why don't you make me regret it?"

"Don't tempt me."

"What? Afraid of little old me?"

"You know, it sounds like you could use a good beat down."

Devcon tensed with anticipation as Lockdown's hook moved from his wrist to the cables binding him. He just needed a few inches of wiggle room and then he could… the hook stopped short of what Devcon had assumed its goal was.

"Just a quick question." Lockdown purred. "How stupid do you think I am?"

Lockdown pulled his hook away with a smirk on his lips.

"You are so easy to play its almost sad. Did you really think I'd just let a fully trained cyber-ninja lose?"

"I SWEAR TO PRIMUS IF YOU DON'T RELEASE ME IN TWO SECONDS…!"

"You'll what?" Lockdown cut over him. "Yell some more?"

"I'll rip your spark out through your mouth!"

"Oh so scary!" Lockdown mocked. "Nice to know I'm already pushing you buttons."

Then with a laugh Lockdown rose and left once again. Devcon managed to control himself long enough for the door to close before he screamed and thrashed against the cables in his fury.


	4. Chapter 4

Quite some time past before Devcon was visited again. With nothing better to do Devcon had fallen into a deep recharge in order to let his still damaged systems have time to repair themselves. He was rudely awakened by a rough shaking. His acing systems screamed at him, jerking him to unpleasant consciousness.

"Fraggin' knock it off!" He spat at whoever was shaking him. "My processor still fraggin' hurts!"

"Oh so sorry your majesty! I didn't mean to be so rough."

"Blow it out your exhaust." Devcon snarled as memories of the last few cycles came flooding back to him.

"My my… what a mouth you have."

Devcon sensed that there was something wrong with Lockdown's tone and the way he said that sentence but he was too tired to care.

"Get up princess. It's time to move."

"You move."

Not the greatest comeback in existence, but it seemed harsh enough for Devcon's abused psyche.

"You're getting a room upgrade so I wouldn't complain if I were you. Hey!"

Devcon felt the slap across the face without truly feeling it. The "princess" insult was more than enough to get him to turn on his optics though. He found himself, literally, face to face with Lockdown. The other bounty hunter's face was practically touching his own. Had he not been strapped down to a table Devcon would have shyed away from the closeness.

"Now that I have you attention, listen up. I'd like to do this without problems. I'm on a tight seclude here. But if you try something funny, you'll wish you hadn't woken up."

"I already wish I hadn't woken up." Devcon mumbled. "I'll pass on the upgrade. I'm comfy right here."

Devcon switched his optics off once again; content to leave things like that.

"I'm going to have to insist." Lockdown deadpanned.

The dark bounty hunter kept his hand on Devcon's shoulder while his hook hit the button to release the restraints. The reinforced steel cables quickly slithered away under the table to wait for their next victim. The tension in Lockdown's body didn't abate when Devcon still stayed motionless. Maybe he would do things the easy way after all. His whole body was no doubt still ringing from the circuit disrupter. Still, Lockdown didn't want to take any chances. Just as his hand reached into his subspace Devcon's optics brightened. The blue and red legs coiled like lightning and struck Lockdown in the abdomen, sending him sprawling to the floor. The captive bounty hunter then sprung to his feet but faltered as he stood upright. His legs where still numb and threatened to give out on him at any moment. Devcon ignored the flashing warning signs on his HUD and forced his legs to move. He didn't get too far. In the spit second it took for him to steady himself Lockdown had recovered. From the floor the dark hand grabbed hold of one of the red feet and yanked it out from under the other mech. Devcon went down hard, landing face down on the cold floor.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lockdown snarled.

Devcon hissed and tried to kick himself free as Lockdown dragged him back and placed a knee on the small of his back. The cyber ninja thrashed as Lockdown dropped down on top of him, reaching for his arms. Lockdown outweighed the smaller hunter and had the advantage as he got his hook around one red wrist and yanked it up behind Devcon's back. Devcon hissed and still thrashed as Lockdown groped for his other arm. After some undignified struggling on both their parts the dark bounty hunter finally got hold of the rebellious blue and white limb. It too was twisted behind Devcon's back where Lockdown then snapped a pair of stasis cuffs on the struggling hunter. With a jolt of specialized electricity the entirety of Devcon's systems where paralyzed, leaving him helpless once again. Lockdown stayed pressed to Devcon's back for a few unnecessary seconds.

"Get off me you ugly Con!" Devcon snarled.

"I told you I wasn't going to tolerate any slag." Lockdown said in the blue audio, a little too close for comfort. "You didn't listen."

The tattooed hunter rose to his feet, stooped, and grabbed Devcon around the middle. With quite a lot of swearing from the blue and white bot Lockdown slug him over his shoulder. The paralyzed mech flopped over like a rag doll, cursing like never before.

"Fraggin', glich riddin, slag sucking, virus infested AFT!"

"That mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble someday."

"Where are you taking me?!"

"Somewhere where you won't get in the way."

"Doubtful."

"Well if you want some trouble it's always welcome in my chambers."

"If you ever, EVER say anything like that again I will make you regret it!"

Lockdown snorted amused as he hauled Devcon's immobile body through the Death's Head down to the brig. The ship itself looked rather large but the inside was in fact rather small. Lockdown had stripped out all non-essential equipment to make her light on her feet. The brig only had one cell in it; clearly the dark hunter didn't take on too many prisoners to warrant extra cadges. Devcon was then dumped in the middle of the floor and left in a heap. Once Lockdown was out of the way a blue energon shield flickered into place, effectively sealing Devcon inside.

"Now be a good boy while I'm gone." Lockdown grinned.

Then he disappeared back into the creeping shadows and was gone. A moment after he was left alone the stasis cuffs on Devcon's wrists disengaged. Groaning, the completely beaten mech struggled to sit upright. After he cleared his head the cuffs restraining him where thoroughly inspected. They where the most modern incarnation that had barely hit the black market, even the Elite Guard hadn't started using them yet. Instead of a solid bar of metal connecting the two rings around the wrists, a durable metal chain linked them, proving a more flexible and harder to break system. But they weren't only tough, they were smart too. The cuffs could be linked to a bot who could then remotely control the paralyzing effects of the stasis cuffs. With nothing more than a thought the cuffs could zap their victim with any specified voltage, or even reverse the paralysis. Devcon growled at the inanimate piece of equipment as he tugged on the chain. They where escape proof. Devcon sighed as he eyed his new prison. Even if he could make it past the energon barrier of his cell, all Lockdown would have to do was think "paralyze" and he would be fraged. For a long time Devcon was left to his own devices. During that time he thoroughly inspected every inch of his cell looking for any cracks in the impenetrable defenses. He found nothing. What he could inspect of the energy barrier was just as disappointing. It appeared to be a triple redundant failsafe system with a backup power supply hooked directly into the ship.

The blue and white hunter's head jerked up when the ship began to tremble and its powerful engines roared. There came a few jumps that Devcon recognized the signs of atmospheric entry as the steady hum of the landing gears descending fill the ship. With one final lurch the ship came to a stop, the engines quickly winding down. Soon everything was quiet. With a defeated sigh Devcon slumped against the far wall.

"Pull it together mech." Devcon growled to himself.

The brightly colored hunter's shoulders wilted as he crossed his legs and put his chained hands in his lap. How was he going to get Lockdown to lower his guard, open the door and undo his restrains all at the same time?

Devcon had long since lost track of time. It felt like cycles since the ship had landed. As long as he went unbothered though Devcon didn't really care what Lockdown did or where he was. The blue and white cyber ninja had slipped into a deep meditative trace and intended to stay there. His will was teased when muffled screams floated down from above. Lockdown had apparently found someone else to occupy his time with. The screams didn't last very long but they put Devcon on edge long after they had ceased. Still longer after the silence the door to the brig opened to Devcon's back as the hunter remained seated, bound hands still in his lap.

"Miss me?" Lockdown asked as the door cycled closed behind him.

"No." Devcon replied calmly.

"Missed you too." Lockdown smiled, powering down the energy field to the single cell. "I hope you're hungry, we're dinning on the good stuff tonight."

The smaller hunter heard something being slid across the floor that taped his side before coming to rest. Slowly Devcon turned his head to see a cube of energon sitting beside him, and a grinning Lockdown leaning again the wall. He turned back to his own wall without emotion.

"Not hungry."

"You will be."

Devcon looked back over his shoulder to find Lockdown staring at him over the rim of his cube. The red optics seemed to regard him with something a little more than curiosity but a little less then obsession.

"See if your other "guest" wants it." He said in the same clam voice as before.

"He's not with us anymore."

Lockdown did nothing as Devcon once again gave him the cold shoulder.

"You're a rude dinner guest."

"I don't refuel with enemies."

"I'm not your enemy."

"I feel otherwise."

Lockdown slid down the wall to a seated position as he sipped his cube, just watching the other mech.

"If it makes you feel any better he was a Decpeticon."

"No. It does not, "make me feel better." Devcon said darkly, the first time his voice had changed tone throughout the entire conversation.

"Look," Lockdown said leaning in. "I was only contracted to stop you from interfering with mission operations. As soon as the Con's are done with whatever their doing in this sector you're free to go. I promise."

Devcon glared over his shoulder with a deep frown on his handsome face as Lockdown smiled in return.

"Promises lose their value when spoken through prison bars."

Lockdown's face lit up with admiration as he cocked his head off to the side.

"And you're a poet. You sure are full of surprises."

Devcon said nothing more to his captor as he turned away. Lockdown tried to start a conversation a few times but got no reply. Slightly frustrated at being ignored, the dark hunter stood to let himself out of the brig. He looked over his shoulder as the energon barrier went back up. Devcon didn't so much as glace back to watch him leave. Lockdown set his face in a hard glare as he left. Devcon could be as stubborn as he wanted to be, but Lockdown would break him eventually.

The next cycle Lockdown found himself outside the brig door once again. He had plenty of other things he should be doing, but he couldn't help but wonder what his prisoner was up to. Once again he was greeted by the other hunter's back. Devcon said nothing to him as Lockdown entered and powered down the shield. The cube of energon that had been left before had been moved to the front corner of the cell, completely untouched.

"Mornin' to you too." Lockdown said offhandedly.

Nonchalantly he pulled a pair of energon cubes from his subspace, took up a spot on the wall at on Devcon's side and slid a cube over to the sitting mech.

"Hungry yet?" He asked, taking a swig of the purple energy.

"No." Came the sigh of an answer.

"You'll have to eat sooner or later."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do. Might as well do it now."

"I don't have to refuel as soon as you seem to think."

Devcon slid the cube back to Lockdown's feet without even looked at the mech. The dark hunter kicked the cube away. It tumbled and rolled nosily before coming to rest next to the one from the cycle before.

"Your stubbornness doesn't impress me." Lockdown said, turning up his nose plates.

"I'm not trying to impress anyone."

"Then eat something."

"I don't feel like it."

Lockdown's lips twice before pulling back into a sneer. Devcon had set his will against him yet again. Fine, if that's how he wanted it, Lockdown would do everything in his power to subvert that will.


	5. Chapter 5

From that point on a game was played between the two. Lockdown would appear with a new cube every cycle, and Devcon would refuse it. The dark hunter found himself more and more often drawn back to the brig and its sole occupant. Devcon was the first bot that puzzled him, and if there was one thing Lockdown liked more than a hunt, it was a difficult one. He would find out what made the smaller mech tick.

It started off as one visit a cycle, one cube offered only to be refused, but then it became twice a cycle. Quickly that turned into three times and then four and five. Soon Lockdown was spending almost as much time in the brig as Devcon was.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Devcon asked as Lockdown entered his cell once again.

"You're more interesting."

Lockdown sat down in his now usual seat on the wall on Devcon's side and once again slid a cube over.

"You live a sad life if I'm interesting."

"A fully trained cyber ninja that can defeat an elite squad of Deceptions single handedly with only a handful of shots and you don't think that'd be interesting to me?"

"I don't find fighting of any kind interesting."

The full cube of energon was quietly pushed back into Lockdown's lap.

"Yet you chose to pursue one of the most violent professions in the universe."

"It wasn't so much a choice as a duty. So why are you a bounty hunter and not…"

"On Megatron's pay roll?" Lockdown finished for him as he slid the cube back to Devcon.

"That's nicer then how I was going to put it."

"Ever the politically correct mech aren't you?"

"I'm trying to make you tolerable." Devcon said pushed the offered cube back.

"How's that going so far?"

"Not well."

Lockdown chuckled and slid the cube back again.

"Occupational hazard."

"More like personality programming glitch."

"Sharp mind and a sharper glossa."

Devcon shoved the cube back into Lockdown's leg and he didn't waste any time pushing it right back.

"We've played this game for stellar cycles now. Just fraggin' take it."

"I already told you a thousand times I don't want it."

"Don't you think that if I was going to kill you or turn you in for a bounty I would have done it already? Primus knows I've had more than enough time. Just eat."

"No."

"Why?"

"You're built to overpower and I'm built to outlast. I can go a long, long time playing this… game."

The cube was shoved back to Lockdown.

"What if I showed you that you could trust me? Called a truce?"

"You can't call a truce if you're not in a war."

"And what do you think this is?"

"A disagreement between professionals."

"You just like to argue don't you?"

"No I don't."

"Alright," Lockdown sneered. "Then call it a cessation of hostilities."

"And why would I agree to that?"

"Cuz I'm pretty sure you're tired of being locked up in here. Besides, we can't build a working relationship without trust."

"Trust?" Devcon scoffed. "You want me to trust you? Just how are you going to accomplish that without letting me go?"

Lockdown lifted the cube from the floor and offered it open palmed to the skeptic hunter.

"Drink this and find out."

Devcon sneered and turned his face away from the other hunter. Lockdown swirled the energy and let it lap against the sides making rather tasty sounding little sloshes.

"Come on, what the worst that could possibly happen?"

Devcon glanced back over this shoulder and snorted.

"I can think of plenty of bad things."

"Never know until you try." Lockdown offered. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you tired of being looked up in here. A free spark like you has to be able to move around, stretch your legs."

"Why do you care so much?"

"I told you, you're interesting. You'd be surprised how rare that is."

"Will you fraggin' leave me alone if I do?" Devcon sighed shaking his head.

"Didn't promise that." Lockdown's crooked smile promised nothing but trouble.

Devcon reached forward and grasped the cube, not noticing the tips of his fingers touching Lockdown's hand. The dark mech smirked as Devcon watched him out of the corner of his optic.

"Are you going to stare at me all cycle?" the blue and white snapped.

"Gota' make sure you keep your end of the deal."

"Primus you're creepy."

"If I had a credit every time someone said that I'd be a lot richer." Lockdown smiled.

Devcon quickly downed the cube and tossed it back. Lockdown caught the empty container and set it beside his own as Devcon glared at him.

"Happy now?"

"Very." Lockdown said, getting to his feet. "Now get up."

"Oh Primus now what?"

"Get up and find out." Lockdown smirked, heading for the door.

"And here's where everything goes bad." Devcon muttered to himself.

Rising reluctantly to fallow the green and black mech, Devcon waited for something bad to happen. Lockdown only looked over his shoulder as he waited by the only door out of the brig.

"Well? What are you waiting for? An invitation email?"

"I'm waiting for you to turn the energy field on in my face." Devcon snapped back.

"Maybe some other time." Lockdown smiled, no doubt considering it. "Now get over here."

Cautiously the blue and white mech crossed the threshold of his prison cell and made his way to the door, stopping out of reach of Lockdown.

"Now what?"

"Now you fallow me."

Lockdown turned his back to the other hunter and headed out the brig door. Wary, but curious now, Devcon fallowed the mech out, keeping a tactical distance behind him.

"Welcome to the Death's Head." Lockdown said, waving his hook about the mostly unimpressive ship. "You know the brig already."

The dark mech threw a crude smile over his shoulder to which Devcon met with a scowl.

"Over there is the engine room, nothing too fancy. It's the Deckard cannons and the secondary Samus-blasters you gotta watch out for."

"Where did you get your hands on firepower like that?" Devcon asked, trying to hide his slight case of jealously.

"Business associates mostly." Was the cryptic answer.

"Some… associates… you have."

"I believe you know a bot that goes by the name Swindle."

"Who doesn't?"

"Next time, if you play your cards right and happen to mention you've got credits to burn, he'll show you the good stuff."

"No thanks." Devcon huffed. "The less time I spend with that guy the better."

"Then you still realize you're getting taken for a ride." Lockdown grinned. "I've never met a more amply named bot in all my cycles."

Lockdown nodded in the direction of another door along their path as they walked.

"That's my trophy room, but then you've already seen that." Lockdown smirked.

"Oh yeah, LOTS of fond memories there."

Lockdown pointed to another door further down the hall.

"And behind door number three, my quarters. What to see?"

"Yeah I'm going to pass on that before I purge my tank." Devcon pulled his lip plates back into a snarl.

"Suit yourself"

Lockdown moved on and lead the mech further down the corridor until it dead ended into a large double door. The barrier slid aside to allow them entrance to the cockpit.

"And this is the bridge." Lockdown gestured at the cramped, could barely hold two mechs on a good cycle, control room.

Devcon was squeezed uncomfortably close beside his captor. Lockdown didn't seem to mind the invaded personal space as Devcon glared up at him.

"Why are you showing me all this?"

"I'm showing you a little trust in hopes I get a little in return."

"What makes you think you can trust me?"

"Well there's the fact that the ship is synced with my energy signal and won't respond to anyone but me, but then…"

Lockdown leaned in closer in the already tight space. Devcon wanted to back away but be was already as close to the wall as he could get. He simply had to endure the invasion.

"Everyone says you're an honorable bot."

"Can't say I've heard the same about you." Devcon snapped back at the face that was only a few inches away.

"Hey I'm the one sticking my neck out here. What have you got to lose?"

The statement made Devcon uncomfortable. His situation couldn't get too much worse than it already was. As much as it pained him to admit it, Lockdown had a point. He didn't like it.

"And what do you want from me?"

Devcon leered at the tattooed face and the dark red optics.

"Just a little trust. And no more hunger strike."

"Fine."

"You know, a little respect wouldn't hurt."

"Not part of the deal."

The blue and white turned to leave but was stopped when Lockdown's hook caught his arm.

"You can go anywhere in the ship."

"That's great. Though I don't suppose these will come off."

Devcon lifted his shackled hands as he glared. Lockdown optics darkened as a smile tugged at the corner of his pale lips.

"I don't trust you that much." He leaned in close, until his mouth was nearly touching Devcon's audio. "Yet."

The smaller mech was frozen in place a second too long before he jerked away from the other hunter. Lockdown flashed a small smile that grew wider when the blue optics brightened. Devcon bolted back out into the hall, ripping his arm out of Lockdown's grip.

Lockdown didn't go after him as the automatic doors swished closed on the view of that nice aft. The bounty hunter put his hand to his chin as he sank into the pilot's chair. His risk already showed promise of a return. The tattoos stretched as the smile faded to a shallow smirk. He hit a button on the controls and shifted through the security cameras until he found the mech. The curious red optics watched Devcon make his way through the ship back to the brig. Lockdown had always been a patient mech, but this was one premium he couldn't wait to collect.

Devcon went straight back to the brig, brooding. He returned to his cell, no longer closed off by the energy barrier and lay down. Lockdown was up to something, he could practically feel it, he just didn't know what his plan was. One moment he tormented him with attempts at small talk then there was that stunt he had just pulled in the cockpit. Lockdown was trying to throw him off his guard. His plating tingled where Lockdown had touched him and his audio was still buzzing. Quickly Devcon scrubbed at his arm until the feeling disappeared. Quietly he folded his arms over his chest and turned off his optics before he could dwell on why his plating was tingling. He'd start gathering information about his larger prison next cycle. Lockdown would be watching him closely for a while it would be for the best if he believed Devcon cooperative. For now at least.

The next cycle Lockdown entered the brig like he had every cycle before, with two cubes of energon and a patronizing smirk on his face. Devcon was moderately surprised Lockdown would still bother with the tired routine. But still, he had been up long before Lockdown had made his entrance, simply waiting. This time Devcon carefully took the cube from Lockdown without a scene and drank it slowly as the other hunter once again began talking of trivial things. Devcon found himself inexplicably listening to every word the hunter said, and he didn't know why.

Cycles past into weeks quickly. Devcon found his attention was quickly straying from covert spying missions. He found himself less and less inclined to scout for weaknesses in the ship's defenses and more and more apt to helping Lockdown repair it. In fact, their paths seemed to be crossing more and more often. Whenever it was time to refuel they seem to seek each other out. They would sit and sip their respective cubes slowly in each other presents. Devcon was even getting comfortable with the other mech. Over time even Lockdown snide smiles or less then professional glances and stares became tolerated. The passing cycles also saw the conversations evolved from the one sided small talk to actual two sided discussions. Devcon first spoke a few words, then that led to a few sentences and that became him stating his opinions and him asking his own questions. Devcon then found himself wanting to ask about Lockdown himself. The green and black mech was an enigma and Devcon was surprised how strange Lockdown was from another bot he'd known or met. Every cycle he found himself a little more curious about the dark mech's story.

More and more Devcon put off an escape attempt. He told himself it was because he needed more information, a better opportunity, more time. He tried to tell himself the tingling in his plating whenever Lockdown touched him wasn't why he was staying.

"I have a proposition for you." Lockdown said over the rim of his cube one cycle.

"Oh this can't be good." Devcon snorted.

"I've got a job I could use some help with."

"Like I said," the blue and white scoffed as his optics dimmed sarcastically. "No good."

"There's that attitude of yours." Lockdown smiled. "I was beginning to miss it."

"It just slips out when I hear a brainless plan. I just can't control it."

"Hey I was just putting it out there." Lockdown shrugged. "Just thought you'd like a little change a pace."

"Are you so trusting of all your prisoners? Or do I scream "trustworthy?"

"I don't know," Devcon watched Lockdown's optics size him up again. "Chasing you would be a nice change of pace too."

"I'm not stupid enough to skip out when you're fully capable of coming after me." Devcon grumbled.

"Is that a reluctance to leave me I hear in your voice?" Lockdown smirked.

"Don't flatter yourself." Devcon sneered. "I'm just not dumb enough to think you wouldn't come after me."

"But it would be interesting…" Lockdown purred. "I'd love to hunt something as smart as you."

"If I knew you were coming I'd be too much for you to handle."

Devcon's optics darkened as Lockdown chuckled loudly.

"We'll see about that." The tattooed hunter smiled. "Why don't you show me what you're capable of?"

"Wouldn't you just love that?" Devcon sneered.

The blue and white mech paused and then took a long sip of energon. This was definitely a trap, but still he found himself coming up with excuses to go, and he didn't know why his core temperature was a little warmer than usual.

"Fine. But I won't hunt Autobots." He snarled flatly, pointing a chained hand at the other bounty hunter.

"Alright, that's doable." Lockdown smiled. "But don't get excited about escaping, you'd just be helping me on the computer."

"Like you said," Devcon said sarcastically. "It'd be a change of pace. Something I desperately need."

"Well then," Lockdown scooted closed, his optics looking into Devcon's in a not so professional manner. "Let me tell you what I have in mind for you…"


	6. Chapter 6

"Stupid, slag sucking, glitch ridden…!" Devcon mumbled not so under his breath as he pulled pieces of shrapnel out of Lockdown's chest.

"Speak up!" the dark mech snarled angrily. "I don't think the corpses outside herd you clear enough!"

"Your sassy attitude isn't going to make this any less painful!" Devcon snapped right back.

Lockdown opened his mouth to say something snide just as the blue and white decided to jerk a piece of metal out of his torso. The dark mech snarled again and shoved the other away. Devcon wasn't about to have any of that.

"You are such a sparkling!" He snarled.

The blue and white shoved the mech back down on the makeshift operating table, which just so happened to be the very table Devcon had been strapped too decacyles ago now. Lockdown snarled and squirmed making it nearly impossible for Devcon to get to the last piece of metal sticking out of his chest.

"Don't make me restrain you!" Devcon snapped.

Lockdown snarled dangerously as he stilled just long enough for Devcon jerked the shrapnel out and then ignite a small welding torch.

"Don't you dare touch me with that!" Lockdown roared.

"So you can leek to death after I risked my aft to save your sorry life? I don't think so!"

A red hand thrust the larger bounty hunter back down onto the table and then pressed down hard on his unwounded shoulder. Lockdown couldn't escape the iron grip as Devcon carefully began soldering the shrapnel wounds closed. Which was a challenge seeing as how his hands where shackled together.

"Damn you to the pit!" Lockdown snarled in pain.

"Shut up and hold still." Devcon grumbled loudly. "Do you want zig-zag weld lines?"

"You're not even a medic!"

"Well I'm the closest thing you've got so deal with it."

Nearly half a cycle later the impromptu surgery was finished. Despite the delays in the form of yelling matches between the two Lockdown's chest was a bloody, scared mess when Devcon finally turned off the welder, but he'd live.

"You have all the finesse of a butcher!" Lockdown growled as he tried to sit up.

Devcon forced him back down.

"Rest you idiot! I just took a piece of metal out of your chest as long as my hand!"

"No one asked you to!"

"I could have just left you to die. A thank you would be nice."

"Why didn't you?"

"Why didn't I what?"

"Why didn't you just leave?"

Devcon was halfway expecting the question but it was the way Lockdown glared at him that knocked him off guard. Lockdown seemed furious that Devcon had helped him live through that ordeal. It was like he was angry Devcon hadn't run when he had the chance.

"What does it matter?" Devcon snarled back. "You're alive aren't you?"

"Why didn't you run?" Lockdown snarled again. "The cuffs would have reset when my energy signal faded, the ship would have been easy for you to hack into so why? WHY did you stay?"

"Maybe because I'm not a sparkless bastard!" Devcon growled back. "Or maybe because I just like pissing you off!"

Devcon tossed the welder into Lockdown's lap as he stood, toppling over the stool he had been sitting in.

"Next time you want to commit suicide give me a heads up so I don't waste my time trying to save you ungrateful aft!"

The blue and white stormed out of the room and was gone with the soft snap of the automatic doors closing behind him. Lockdown tried sitting up but ended up hissing and snarling when his injuries protested any movement whatsoever. Immobile and angry Lockdown flung the small instrument into a wall like everything was the little tool's fault. He said nothing as his cooling vents snapped on. The pale face contorted with pain before Lockdown let his head fall back onto the table. He shut off his optics but it would be a long time before his processor stopped running around in circles.

Devcon found Lockdown right where he left him the next cycle. The other bounty hunter was sprawled across the table, surrounded by his grizzly trophies and looking quite dead. Carefully mading his way into the room Devcon righted the stool he had tipped over and sat next to the seemingly dead hunter.

"You alive?" Devcon asked sarcastically at the mech's side.

"Unfortunately for you, yes. I am." Lockdown said tiredly.

Devcon tried to get a look at the mech's wounds but the discolored hand and hook where crossed over Lockdown's chest and blocked his view.

"Did you hope I would bite the big one?"

"I'd hopped your near death experience would make you a bit more appreciative, but I can see you're as unsavory as ever."

"You don't sound too disappointed about that."

"I wasted a lot of time on you. If you die it would have all been pointless."

Lockdown's optics came online and he half grinned up at Devcon.

"I would hate to have disappointed you by dying."

"I'm sure you would have been as much a pain in my aft dead as you are alive. Let's see how those welds are holding up."

"Their fine." Lockdown snapped.

"Let me see them."

"Did you suddenly become a doctor over night?"

"Well unless you'd like to turn yourself into the authorities to have a trained medic look at you, you're going to have to work with what you got which is me. Move your damn hands."

Lockdown made a face and reluctantly moved his arms. Devcon lightly trailed his finger tips over each weld. The big mech squirmed under the feather light touch.

"What are you doing?" he snapped.

"Cyber ninja's are highly sensitive." Devcon said as his other shackled hand began fallowing it's twin's path. "I can feel better than I can see. So I'm checking to make sure you didn't re-open any of these."

"Why?"

"Primus are you a youngling that just learned that word?"

"Why would you bother?"

"Would you like to just bleed to death?"

"I want to know why you care so much. I set you up, I took you prisoner and now you're trying to nurse me back to heath. Why?"

Devcon stopped his examination to glare down at the other mech. Lockdown was glaring right back. Devcon just couldn't seem to figure him out. Lockdown was perfectly fine trusting him to freely run around his ship, but when Devcon was trying to help him the mech had nothing but distrust and skepticism for him. Devcon knew Decepticons that he had tortured for cycles that trusted him more than Lockdown.

"I'm not an idiot." Devcon snapped as he went back to the dark mechs wounds. "I know the Con's didn't contract you to just keep me out of the way. Their more apt to pay extra for my severed head on a pike. And whatever your reason, you kept me alive so..."

Devcon trailed off and suddenly seemed more interested in the silver welds.

"Are you going to finish that thought?" Lockdown asked, a little less harshness in his voice.

"Thanks." Devcon blurted out quickly, not looking up. "I… guess."

Lockdown didn't inquire further into the thanks as the smaller mech finished his examination and didn't seem too concerned about the welds reopening.

"I don't want to move you too soon." Devcon said matter of factly. "Those held up but I don't want you pushing your luck trying to move."

"So what your saying is get comfortable." Lockdown smirked.

"That'd be the short version."

"You gonna take care of me too?"

"Push your luck anymore and I'll finish the job that explosion started."

Lockdown shook his head and offlined his optics. Devcon growled and let himself out of the creepy room. He was back in few hours though, a pair of energon cubes in hand. Lockdown was still on the table snoozing, as the blue and white sat beside him. The red optics powered back on as the dark mech turned his head to face Devcon.

"Dinner for two when I'm half blown up? How romantic." Lockdown sneered.

"And you say I have horrible bedside manner." Devcon snorted. "Can you move your arm?"

"Oh yeah sure. Because I feel so great right now."

"If you won't that means I have to force feed you. And I'll take holoscans."

"And you think I'm sick." Lockdown sneered.

"I'll post them in every seedy bar from this end of the galaxy to the other. Starting with your favorites."

"Just leave it there I'll get to it!"

Devcon wasn't buying it. He put his hand under Lockdown's chin and lifted his face up. The mech snarled curses at him but his arms didn't move to stop him.

"That's what I thought."

The blue and white lifted a cube and pressed it to the white lips. Lockdown snarled and turned his head in the opposite direction. Devcon frowned and pushed the cube back in front of Lockdown's face with an order to drink. The bounty hunter shook his face left and right snarling as the cube fallowed him.

"Get that outa' my face!"

"Drink it!"

"Not a chance you crazy glitch!"

"You're repair systems need extra energy!"

"They can slag off and work with what they got!"

"Stop being so slaggin' stubborn or so help me Primus I will shove this down your throat!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

"Don't tempt me."

Lockdown's optics dimmed and he kept his face turned away.

"You're exhausting. Go bother someone else."

"I like bothering you too much."

Devcon turned Lockdown's face back to him. The mech's optics where dull and his cooling fans were buzzing. No doubt the argument had overtaxed his already fatigued systems.

"I swear, no holoscans. Please just drink."

"Why should I?"

"It would make me feel better."

Lockdown's optics fluttered through shades of red and his vents sighed.

"Well anything to make YOU feel better."

Devcon offered the cube again and this time, with some reluctance, Lockdown took a sip. It took more coaxing then Devcon thought but little by little he got Lockdown to drink. In the end Devcon set the empty cube on the floor as Lockdown switched off his optics and fell into a deep recharge. The blue and white contemplated going back to the brig but decided against it. He folded his arms on the table and laid his head on them. If Lockdown needed him he would be close by. When the gentle humming of Devcon's recharging systems filled the air Lockdown's optics flickered to life. He watched Devcon sleep, tracing the contours of the mechs gray face with his optics. His head settled back down, facing the blue and white as his processor ran in circles again.

The next seven cycles Devcon helped Lockdown recover. The dark mech's attitude slowly turned from sour to cooperative as he regained his strength. Devcon had less and less trouble getting him to drink his energon but more trouble pretending not to notice the red optics always staring at him. Worse than that, he often found himself staring back.

"Come on let's get you to your room." Devcon said when Lockdown seemed strong enough to be moved

"Trying to get me to my berth?" Lockdown asked with a crooked smile. "Cuz its working."

"Do you want another gash in your chest?"

Despite some grumbled protests Devcon got Lockdown to slowly sit up and then stand. The dark mech waved off the offered arm of support. Carefully he began to walk, Devcon at his side every once in a while trying to help, chirping in his audio about taking it easy.

"I'm fine." Lockdown said more gently then he meant too as Devcon put a hand on his arm.

"Yeah well if you ruin all my hard work I'm going to kill you."

"After you went through all the trouble of saving my life? You're bluffing." Lockdown teased.

"Especially after I wasted my time!"

Lockdown half grinned while his optics darkened as he looked at Devcon. The blue and white didn't bother leering back this time as Lockdown reached the door to his quarters. It swished up and Lockdown stepped inside, too his surprise Devcon fallowed in after him. For all his nasty comments to the contrary the other mech didn't seem to mind being there and, Lockdown mused, he didn't look out of place either. In fact he could get very used to seeing Devcon in his personal quarters all the time.

"You're going to need at least another week's worth of rest to let those heal properly."

"Whatever you say doc." Lockdown chuckled as he eased himself down onto his berth.

"Worst patient ever." Devcon grumbled not so quietly. "Now if you're done bothering me I should…"

Halfway through turning around to storm out the door Devcon felt his arm caught. He turned back around to see Lockdown holding onto his elbow.

"Be my partner." Lockdown said simply.

"Have you got a screw lose?"

"Several." Lockdown said flatly. "But I'm serious. We make a good team."

"Good team? We almost got each other killed!"

"But we didn't. You've got real skills. You're almost as good as me."

"And you're modest too." Devcon sneered.

"We'd fit together real well." Lockdown said a little quieter.

"You'd better get those screws tightened." Devcon scoffed. "Because you're out of you mind."

Lockdown pulled on his arm and Devcon was pulled down where his grey lips met with the white ones. Too surprised to do anything Devcon's optics brighten to light blue as he was kissed. Lockdown tugged on him and the cyber ninja gracefully slid into his lap.

"Be my partner." Lockdown asked again, his voice a low baritone Devcon had never heard.

"I…I…"

Devcon found he couldn't speak. His entire neural network was lit up like the lights of Iacon. His plating tingled as Lockdown slid his arms up his back and pulled him closer. The white lips fluttered dangerously close to his neck and Devcon shivered.

"I want you." Lockdown purred.

Devcon's optics turned dark blue as Lockdown kissed his audio. It had been a long time. The last time he'd been intimate with anyone was back during the war. Far too long for his interfacing array. The dark hand ran down the length of his back as Lockdown pressed his lips to Devcon's once again. He knew he shouldn't be letting his hands wander over the other mech's shoulder, or let himself lean in closer. He knew it was a bad idea to open his mouth and dim his optics, but he tried to convince himself that he could stop this any time it felt like it. Lockdown pulled him down to the berth and rolled him onto his back. Devcon's engine rumbled loudly as Lockdown eased himself between his legs. He had always been the one in control and he wasn't sure he liked the loss of it.

"Easy," Lockdown purred when Devcon tried to get out from under him. "I'll be gentle with you."

Devcon tried to open his mouth to protest but it was quickly covered by Lockdown's. Devcon moaned at the slight touch of a glossa on his lips and let them part. His knees bent as the big mech leaned into him, deepening their kiss as his hand slid up and down his body, looking for hot spots. He found one in the blue hip and tweaked the wires. Devcon gasped as shut his optics off in pleasure. Lockdown grinned down at the mech beneath him as he fondled the wires in the hip. Devcon was far more receptive then he had ever guessed.

"You told me cyber ninja's feel better then they see," He said softly. "So tell me, how does it feel?"

Devcon gasped and arched his back as Lockdown's hand caressed the cover of his interface panel. He was practically burning under the mech's touch.

"Ahhmmm…" was all the ninja could say.

The dark mech grinned as he bent down and slid his lips along the power lines in the slim neck. His glossa flicked out and traced the sensitive cables to Devcon's vocal delight. The red hands reached up and tried to touch the dark metal above him but the handcuffs got in the way. Devcon groaned as Lockdown continued working his neck and panel. With his hands trapped between the two bodies he could do little to return the sensations Lockdown was causing in him. The other bounty hunter moaned quietly as Devcon touched his chest. Then to Devcon's surprise the cuffs where gone. Lockdown tossed them aside without so much as a glance at them as they banged into a wall and slid to the floor.

Devcon trembled as Lockdown looked down at him with dark red optics before his lips came down on his again. The blue and white dimmed his optics as he opened his mouth for Lockdown. Escape should have been on his mind, but his newly freed hands instead wrapped themselves around the powerful back. Devcon ran his hands down along the spikes looking for gaps in the dark armor. The sensitive red fingers traced seems and dipped into openings drawing soft moans from the other hunter.

"Open up." Lockdown growled rubbing Devcon's interface panel hard.

"I don't jack in on the first date!" Devcon snarled.

"Lucky for us we've been together for decacycles." Lockdown grinned.

Devcon moaned as Lockdown slid his own panel aside and uncoiled his cable. After that it didn't take Lockdown long to coax Devcon's panel open. With maddening slowly he plugged himself into the blue and white's port. Devcon arched and his optics turned off as the connection was completed. The data stream from Lockdown felt amazing as it cycled through his systems. Devcon moaned and pulled the mech closer, kissing his neck as Lockdown growled and pulled on his hips. His engine revved louder as Lockdown held his hips and moaned, red optics off in rapture. The dark mech's data rushed Devcon's processor to new heights as he gasped and pulled on his back.

"You're mine." Lockdown snarled in his audio.

Devcon could feel that Lockdown had wanted this for a while and the mech's overwhelming need to possess him startled him back to a state of clarity. Devcon didn't know what scared him more, the fact that Lockdown would hold him prisoner forever now, or the fact that he actually liked the idea of that. His knee came out of nowhere and smashed into Lockdown's panel. The dark hunter howled in pain and jerked back, severing the connection as Devcon's palm rammed into his still healing chest. Lockdown doubled over on to the berth as Devcon sprang to his feet, only half aware of what he had done. He bolted from the room in a blind panic and was gone.

Lockdown curled up on himself as he groaned. Pain shot through him from the knee to his cable and the welds in his chest burned. He heard the escape pod detach form the ship and he knew that Devcon had made his escape. That didn't stop the pain though, nor did it stop the imagines of the gorgeous mech writhing beneath him in ecstasy. Lockdown moaned at the memory.

An hour later he uncurled himself slowly and sat up carefully. Gingerly he stood and limped to the cockpit, flopping tiredly into the pilot's seat. He wasn't surprised Devcon had escaped. In fact he was surprised at the skill the blue and white had displayed in the execution of his plan. He'd been the model prisoner and gained the freedom he needed to hack into the computer and get the override code for the escape pod. The dark mech leaned back in his seat and shut off his optics. The last thing Devcon needed was too get the hand cuffs taken off.

"That little fragger. He used interfacing to get wanted from me."

The corners of his lips turned up as a smile slowly spread across his face. The handcuffs had been off long before Devcon had made his escape, but he had stayed. He'd even let Lockdown jack into him.

"Primus, I think I'm in love." Lockdown purred.

One more chapter to go! Devcon is in real trouble now!


	7. Chapter 7

Weeks past. Some quickly and some not so quickly. Devcon had fled as fast and as far as he dared into the outer territories. He had no idea what have come over him in Lockdown's quarters and the loss of his self control unnerved him. He hadn't meant for things to go as far as they had. For cycles after, his plating tingled and when he recharged his mind was plagued with visions of dark red optics. Running had been a bad mistake. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before the mech was hunting his aft down, and that's when everything would go to the pit. Devcon expected vengeance of an unprecedented scale. There was only one thing he was frightened of. It was the fact that in the back of his mind, he wanted to see the dark mech again.

He intended to stay out of sight and keep a low profile but he could only do that for so long. Decepticon uprising and raids were still stretching the elite guards reserves thin, and Devcon wasn't about to let that go unnoticed. He set up a base of operations on a small planet near a little used space bridge. A small troop of Cons where amassing weapons and supplies a few asteroids over and Devcon would have a nasty surprise waiting for them. Lockdown wouldn't be stupid enough to stick his nose so close to danger if he caught wind that Devcon was in the area. Hoping Primus was in a merciful mood, Devcon began tightening the proverbial noose.

It had been nearly a deacycle now and Devcon could feel each and every cycle like a punch in the face. He was tired and worn, running on fumes but looking forward to the end of the mission. He'd harassed the cons enough that they were pulling up stakes and moving their base. Weapons, energy, surviving personnel; the whole nine yards where being moved to a more defendable spot. And Devcon was waiting for them. Perched atop a craggy canyon wall the Autobot bounty hunter had set up his kill nest. The move would take the Cons through the bottom of a steep sided gorge with no way out. His blue optics where dim as he watched the slow precession make their way through the bottom of the ravine. The barrel of the new sniper rifle was undetectable amid the ample cover of boulders and rocks as it fallowed the small troop of darkly panted bots snapping back and forth at each other. They'd be in range in a matter of moments. For all his success, Devcon was uneasy. Something about the silence made him feel like he was in the clam before a solar storm. The cons drew closer and the sights of the scope locked onto the brightly glowing pile of energon and filled the scope. His circuits ran cold as the alloy on the back of his neck tingled.

Devcon moved instantly as he realized what would have made him tingle like that, but it wasn't fast enough. Something got an arm around his shoulder and both attacker and defender rolled in the dust of the asteroid. Despite all his stellar cycles of training Devcon found himself pinned on his back beneath a weight greater than his own. As his optics refocused his arms where jerked above his head and held in place.

"Found you." A deep voice whispered above him.

Devcon's body erupted in heat as he recognized who the voice belonged too. It had haunted him every waking moment.

"LOCKDOWN!" he snarled.

The big mech smirked down at him, his red optics dark. Devcon squirmed under the mech wondering whether it would be his last few moments alive.

"Do you have any idea how difficult a mech you are to find?" Lockdown purred.

"That was kind of the point!" Devcon snapped, ignoring the building head in his frame.

"Took me almost a decycle to locate you. That's a new record."

"Goody for me." Devcon snarled. "What the pit do you want?"

"Do you have any idea how sexy you are when you're hunting?" Lockdown asked, his deep voice sending shivers through the blue and white. "I was watching you and damn you're good. You picked the perfect kill zone, perfect cover, quick escape route, beautiful new rifle. Primus watching you hunt gets me so hot!"

Lockdown's hips rolled above Devcon's and the smaller mech's mouth opened as he moaned. The dark hunter's dental pales pulled back into smug smile as he pressed his fully healed chest into Devcon's and let his engine rumble.

"I'm so switched on right now."

"Let me go you over grown trash compacter!"

"Why would I do that?" the dark mech chuckled. "I worked hard to get my hands on you again."

"Why?" Devcon snarled, blue optics flashing venomously. "You got your damn money!"

"Yeah," Lockdown agreed as his head tilting ever so subtly to the side. "but I hunted you down because I know what I want for my trophy now."

"It took you three decycles to make up your damn mind about what you want to cut out of me?"

Lockdown grinned and leaned in, nose plates nearly touching Devcon's.

"I want you."

"What?" Devcon growled.

"I want you. All of you." Lockdown purred. "I want to own you."

"I don't take kindly to being owned!"

"Alright then, I'll give you a choice."

Lockdown moved back just enough to let Devcon see his sniper rifle still sitting perfectly in position, completely untouched.

"Now you can come back with me as my trophy, and I'll pull the trigger on the cons myself, or we can argue about this, miss the shot and I will hound you until I get what I want anyway. So tell me Devcon…"

Lockdown leaned in again brushing his lips across Devcon's audio.

"Will you trade your freedom for countless, helpless Autobot lives? Or will you sacrifice them for your own selfishness?"

Devcon's cooling fans quickly switched on as he stared into Lockdown's optics and then at the motionless sniper rifle.

"Damn you to the pit." Devcon snarled softly.

"I don't care who gets in the way." Lockdown smirked, rubbing his panel against the blue one. "I'm going to have you one way or another."

Devcon tired to keep his optics on as Lockdown scrapped his panel again.

"Pull the damn trigger." He growled after a moment.

Lockdown's smile widened as he leaned in and captured Devcon's lips with his. He slipped his glossa inside the mech's reluctant mouth. The cyber ninja whimpered beneath him as he plunged his glossa deeper and touched everything he could.

"Don't try to escape." Lockdown purred as he drew away. "I'll only catch you."

Devcon didn't move as Lockdown reached over and peered through the scope. The blue and white turned off his optics and tried to ignore the way the mech's hips shifted above his. He didn't hear the shot but the explosion made him jump. Lockdown shivered and purred as Devcon's hips bucked into his. The blue and white trembled as Lockdown looked down at him with all the lust he'd held back.

"There." Lockdown said as he settled himself on top of Devcon. "You're mine now."

Devcon shivered as Lockdown's hand trailed down the side of his face and his lips swept in for another kiss but he didn't touch.

"I gotta say," He mumbled, lips fluttering just out of reach. "You're the best looking trophy yet."

"I won't be your damn trophy for long." Devcon snarled defiantly.

"Then I guess I better treat you real nice."

The blue optics dimmed as Lockdown smirked at him. A click above his head made Devcon jerk back. His optics brightened as Lockdown's hook released his hands. There around his wrists again was the same pair of stasiscuffs he had been wearing for decacyles.

"But I think you'll need a collar for a while. At least until I break that will of yours."

Lockdown smiled darkly as Devcon jingled his bound hands and shot him a withering glare. A glare that would have had more power had his engine not been purring loudly with arousal. Lockdown's hand tailed lightly down Devcons arm, down his neck and chest and then stopped at his hip. His white lips lightly touched Devcon's grey ones. For a long moment there was silence.

"Un… uncuff me." Devcon tried to demand when Lockdown's lips left his.

Lockdown chuckled softly while his optics darkened playfully. He leaned in again and brushed against Devcon's audio.

"No." He teased.

"This is so humiliating…" Devcon started, but was cut off.

Lockdown bit Devcon's neck as he rubbed his hips against the other hunters'. Devcon couldn't control himself as his interface panel slid away. The little voice in the back of his mind screamed he shouldn't interface with Lockdown, screamed that nothing good would come of it. It was ignored as Lockdown gripped his hips tightly and moaned.

"Now…" came the dark rumble of a voice. "We've played with cables, but I want more."

Devcon's fans kicked into high gear as Lockdown's spike extended, and it looked absolutely huge. The dark hunter looked down the length of the brightly colored chassis with dark, hungry optics. Lockdown took the lack of a "no don't" for a resounding "yes take me now!" and gently rimed the hot port with the tip of his spike. The long forgotten, primal, NEED in Devcon flared back to life as Lockdown's spike breached his port. Its great length took care to bush against every sensor node as it searched deeper. Devcon gasped quietly, Lockdown was hotter than anyone he could remember. Lockdown cradled his hips in his hand as he lifted them and thrust in again. Devcon rocked his body slowly in time with Lockdown's as the dark hunter began a steady in and out rhythm. Pleasure shot though his entire frame as the large spike plunged in and out of his port, clouding out all his thoughts. Devcon tried to lift his arms but the handcuffs prevented him from moving them much.

"If you don't uncuff me I'll-" Devcon weakly tired to free his hands.

Lockdown only smirked. The dark hunter rolled his hips to the side, raking his spike deep within the port. Devcon's shoulders rolled as his back arched and a moan was ripped from his vocalizer.

"You'll do what Devy?" Lockdown purred. "Enjoy it more?"

"Smug bastered!" Devcon managed to gasp. "I'm not enjoying…"

"Sure you're not." Lockdown rumbled, lifting the white hips higher so he could get deeper. "That's why you're practically ready to overload for me right now."

The smaller mech closed his mouth for fear another embarrassing moan would escape him. His processor seemed to be shutting down with each push and more the decision making was being made by his interfacing array. His legs pumped up and down in time with Lockdown's thrusts driving the mech deeper into him. The dark mech moaned as he forced the white legs further apart.

"Your port is so fraggin hot!" Lockdown snarled. "Primus even your lubricant is hot!"

Devcon arched his back as his hands above his head tightened into fists so hard energon leaked from his palms. Lockdown slid in and out of his port faster, but Devcon refused to be reduced to a moaning pile of metal by some arrogant bounty hunter, no matter how good he was with those hips. His pride forbid it. Or at least, he wouldn't be first.

Through the fog of lust his pride had been twisted, now instead of wanting to escape Lockdown's touch, he wanted more of it. Now he wanted to cause as much pleasure in the other bounty hunter as he was causing in him. Before Lockdown realized what was happening, Devcon had looped the chain of his handcuffs around the back of his neck and pulled him down. Devcon's mouth pressed against Lockdown's and his glossa quickly penetrated the stunned white lips. There was no reservation in the blue hunter now, no prudish probing or shy formalities. His mouth invited every carnal pleasure Lockdown could imagine and more. Devcon felt as much as he heard the deep, animal snarl from the dark mech as the tattooed fingers tightened into claws and the point of the silver hook bit into the soft metal of his hip. Devcon pulled on his captor as Lockdown brazenly opened his mouth to match Devcon's. The smaller mech bucked his hips hard to try and impress upon Lockdown the fact that he wanted more, and Lockdown was more than happy to oblige him. He vigorously thrust the entire length of his spike into the smaller mech which earned him a gasp of pain and then a cry for more.

Lockdown's hook left its hold and reappeared on the ground by the blue shoulder, steadying him as he was nearly laying on Devcon now. His thrusts picked up speed as his mouth ravaged and was ravaged. Devcon's keens bent as he planted his feet on the ground and began thrusting back hard as his port tightened around the intruding spike. It was then Lockdown's turn to moan aloud. The chain around the spiked neck was pulled in time with the rolling hips, bringing the two closer with each successive motion. Lockdown broke away from the sinful kiss to gasp and growl. In absence of the searing mouth, Devcon went for the black neck. His glossa slowly licked one of the sliver spikes before moving down. The aroused hunter bit down on the largest power cable and began softly sucking on it. Lockdown's hand slipped from Devcon's hip to the small of his back as the nips on his neck intensified.

"Say it!" Lockdown moaned.

"N-No!" Devcon gasped.

"You… know it's true..! Say It! Say I own you!"

"Fraaaag!"

Devcon's vents hiccupped and began to fail. His optics grew brighter and closer to white as Lockdown plunged into him again and again.

"I can't hear you!"

"YOU OWN ME!" Devcon screamed.

"Mmm ah…" Lockdown groaned. "That's right. You're mine!"

Devcon gasped in Lockdown's audio and raked his fingers across the black neck. That was all the encouragement Lockdown needed. With on final thrust of his hips Lockdown buried his spike in the hot port and overloaded. Devcon felt like he had been set on fire. Energy zinged through his system at light speed, overpowering him and trigging his own overload. Suddenly there was nothing in the universe but him and the bot he was holding flush.

Devcon was rousted from the most satisfying overload he'd had by an arm being slid off his chest. His blue optics brightened to their natural deep color as he turned to look at the arm still taking it's time to be removed. Lockdown was lying on his side next to him, his optics dark but he had begun to stir. Now would be the perfect time to run, but Devcon found he was far more comfortable right where he was. With Lockdown's warm chassis nestled against him he could almost imagine he had a lover again. Almost.

"You awake yet sleepyhead?" Devcon parroted the first words Lockdown had ever spoken to him.

A smile quirked the corners of the white lips up. Devcon smirked himself as the red optics slowly came back online.

"Sorry, you knocked me out." Lockdown purred. "I wasn't sure you'd be here when I turned my optics on so I want sure I wanted too."

"I shouldn't be." Devcon snorted as he put a hand to his face.

"Mmmm that'd be alright with me." Lockdown purred. "If it ended like this every time you tried to escape I wouldn't mind hunting you for eternity."

"I think I have a screw lose somewhere." The blue and white ninja growled.

"The best ones always are a little crazy."

Lockdown's optics settled on Devcon's wrist. His hand reached out and caught the white arm and brought it close to him. Devcon gave the other hunter a look as Lockdown smiled slyly at him.

"Looks like you had one pit of a time yourself."

Lockdown gently turned Devcon's hand so he could see just what he was looking at. Dangling from the red wrist was one half the handcuffs, its chain broken. Devcon shook his head and tried to ignore the absolutely evil smile on Lockdown's face.

"It was a fraggin' cheep piece of junk, who you buy it from Swindle? Anything could have snapped it!"

Lockdown said nothing as he kept smiling. His hand reached up and tugged the small of Devcon's back, pulled mech closer to him. The smaller mech scoffed and tiredly waved him away.

"There is no way you're a snuggler."

"There's lots of things you don't know about me." Lockdown rumbled. "But you'll have lots of time to learn."

"Uh!" Devcon snorted, pushing the other mech away as Lockdown still tried to cuddle him. "How do I get rid of you?"

"You don't." Lockdown purred.

"I can and I will."

"I own you now." Lockdown whispered quietly into Devcon's audio. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll fallow you to the end of the universe."

"Stalker." Devcon snarled.

"Tease." Lockdown purred, his voice silky once again.

"Decepticon."

"You know you love it Autobot."

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

WOO! Their finally together! I hope you all enjoyed the ride! (I know Lockdown did) If you're like me and need more of a Lockdown X Devcon fix, check out my other collection of stories "Hard Merchandise" If words aren't enough my good friend glacierSCIENCE over on Deviantart. Her galleries is filled with yummyness!

Thanks again!

Comments are loved!


End file.
